The season has turned

As an ardent cloud watcher it has been very disappointing reading since last May with the relentless sunshine, heat and cloudless skies.  It is wonderful to get up in the mornings to smell the fresh air and dew laden foliage and wonder what the day is going to bring again.
The season has definitely turned with the advent of chilly mornings in the bathroom.

Rain on the way

From the top deck of a bus  you can see across the Wirral skyline for almost 360 degrees.  It is endlessly fascinating watching the incoming weather circulating around the coastline  between the Mersey and the Dee estuaries.  When a weather front is approaching the different cloud levels move in different directions.  That is a higher level blows one way and a lower level blows another, so weather movement is in constant flux.  This activity has been much missed during the never ending  heat wave and it is a relief to find it is all still working.

Adult and Juvenile swallows

The bird migration has started in earnest north and south.  There are hot spots around the country where  flocks can be seen traversing in very large numbers, Hoylake coastline at high tide is our local one.

In the  secret elm  woodland the atmosphere has changed dramatically, from stress to calm,  although this might be a reflection of my mood onto the wood, but I do not think so.  The canopy moves with gentle breezes, the brook is running as it should left to right, the ground underfoot is spongy and damp, cracks disappearing as the soil swells.  Even new ferns are sprouting amongst the dead dry fragments of the summer drought.  The only up side of the heat wave is that the usual vigorous undergrowth did not happen so it was possible to visit several  hidden place inaccessible in previous years.

image of the summer

A pair of Stock Doves have set up home in the woodland with the regular Wood Pigeons so I hope to catch an audio recording of them soon.

Really looking forward to autumn and collecting leaves for eco - dying paper.